Fahey Bank, in conjunction with Columbus Chess Lessons, is putting on a category 2 IM norm tournament that’s happening in Worthington, Ohio now. A score of 6.5/9 will be required for an IM norm.
Of particular interest in the norm tournament is FM Seth Homa, who has 2.5/3. He’s currently leading the tournament, along with IM Goran Vojinovic and IM Atanas Kizov. Homa has black against Kizov this round, and his result will likely go some way toward determining whether he will be successful in his pursuit.
The Ohio Scholastic Invitational is a five-round, 14-player Swiss. After 3 rounds, Luke Xie leads with 2.5. A pack of five players has 2/3, led by top seed Maggie Feng, who has white against Xie this round.
IM Atanas Kizov leads the CCL IM Norm Tournament with 4.5/5, with 4 rounds to play. IM Goran Vojinovic is in second, with 4/5.
FM Seth Homa lost to Kizov in the morning session today, but bounced back with a win over FM Atulya Shetty in round 5. He’s in clear third, with 3.5/5, and is in the best shape of all the norm-seekers, though he needs 3 points in the last 4 rounds.
FM Sean Vibbert and NM Walker Griggs have outside shots at a norm; both are on 2.5/5 and would have to win their last 4 games. Of the two, Vibbert would seem to have the superior chances, as he’s already played both Kizov and Vojinovic. These two players will meet in round 9.
In the Ohio Scholastic Invitational, Rahul Ramaswamy and Luke Xie tied for first, with 4/5. Ramaswamy won the first-place trophy on tiebreaks. Maggie Feng finished clear third, with 3.5/5. All three players went undefeated. The tiebreak used for this event was the difference between a player’s performance rating and wallchart rating.
IM Goran Vojinovic leads the CCL IM Norm Tournament with 6/7, with 2 rounds to play. IM Atanas Kizov only managed half a point in his two games today, and sits in second place with 5/7.
NM Walker Griggs is the last player remaining with norm chances. Griggs won both his games today, and sits in sole third place with 4.5/7. However, he must win both games tomorrow, including round 8 as black against Vojinovic, to secure an IM norm. FM Seth Homa was only able to draw his morning game against NM Scott Ramer, meaning he had to not lose against Vojinovic in the evening session to have a shot; unfortunately, Homa did lose.
If there was an award for fighting chess, FM Atulya Shetty would be the runaway leader. He’s played seven decisive games out of seven, including a win as black today against Kizov.
IM Goran Vojinovic won the CCL IM Norm Tournament. At 7.5/9, he was the only undefeated competitor. IM Atanas Kizov was clear second, with 6/9. FM Seth Homa was clear third, with 5.5/9.
NM Walker Griggs was the last player with norm chances. Needing to score 2/2 on the last day, he went for a wild attack as Black against Vojinovic in round 8, and was duly punished in 28 moves. He did finish clear fourth, with 5/9.
Full standings and a complete library of games can be found at cclchess.com/imnorm.